Don't Cry, Dawnie
by mmooch
Summary: A month after Buffy dies in season 5, Dawn sends Xander a love note.


**Don't Cry, Dawnie**

Summary: A month after Buffy dies in season 5, Dawn sends Xander a love note.

Challenge: heard the song 'Don't Cry Joni' and thought it would make an interesting songfic. http:/ www. youtube. com/ watch?v=ku4iC7hcTuQ

**Timeline: soooo totally AU'verse here, people!**

Warning: hmm…you'll just have to read and find out.

Thanks to my betas: none this time.

Disclaimer: BtVS and AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission. The song that inspired this was song by Conway Twitty and his daughter Joni Lee. Photos found on yahoo, edited on photobucket.

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><p><strong>Xander's apartment<strong>

**One month after Buffy died…**

Stripping off his coat, Xander noticed the sealed envelope on the counter. It hadn't been there that morning when he left for work. Before he could get nervous about it, however, he saw the handwriting and recognized Dawnie's girlish scrawl.

She was taking Buffy's death especially hard – probably more so because it happened so soon after their mother died – but luckily Buffy worked it out with Giles before they ran from Sunnydale that he would be Dawn's legal guardian if anything happened to her. The only thing that could interfere with that would be if Hank showed up to claim custody…which he hadn't so far.

Xander had to admit that he wasn't doing so well with Buffy's death either.

Even though he had tried dating through the years after Buffy shot him down for the Spring Fling way back when – even going so far as to lose his virginity to a Slayer named Faith who showed up for a few months in their senior year – but his heart had always belonged to the blonde Slayer who turned his world upside-down…figuratively speaking, of course.

He often wondered if things might have been different if Willow hadn't died the night they all met Buffy. Would having another girl to talk to have helped or hindered in his pursuit? At least he hadn't lost both of his best friends to those bloodsucking monsters. Having Jesse around kept him sane when memories of Willow got too bad.

He looked at the envelope again and decided it could wait until after he cleaned up from the construction site. If he had to go out, the others would probably appreciate him getting de-funked.

Once he was sawdust and funk-free, Xander plopped down on his couch and opened the note. He had to read it twice to be sure he wasn't imagining things.

_Xander,_

_Please say you'll wait for me. I'll grow up someday, you'll see. Saving all my kisses just for you. _

_Signed, _

_With love, forever true._

Oh crap! On the one hand, he was flattered that she had a crush on him – and more than a little gleeful that her mini-crush on Captain Peroxide was over.

On the other, he had finally come to the decision that he couldn't stay in Sunnydale anymore. The memories of both Willow and especially Buffy were tearing him apart. He talked to his boss and gotten a recommendation for a job on the other side of the country. As soon as he got his stuff packed, he was leaving.

With a heavy heart, he went over to the Summers-Giles home to break the news to her.

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><p>"Dawnie, I'm sorry, but you're only 14; I'm 21. That's too much of an age difference. Plus I'm leaving Sunnydale next week. Please don't cry. I promise, you'll forget me when you grow up a little more."<p>

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><p><strong>Later…<strong>

Time went on, and Xander excelled in his job. He even went back to school part-time to learn enough to become a foreman for the company. And without the constant reminders of Buffy, he eventually got over her.

To his surprise, however, thoughts of Dawnie started popping up more and more often.

He would pull out her love note, then wonder how she had changed since he left. After a year or so, he fell out of contact with the old group. Finally it got to the point where he knew that he had to go back and propose to her. Hopefully when she found out that he was in love with her, she'd forgive him for leaving and say yes.

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><p>Unfortunately, when he got to the Summers-Giles home, he got more than one shock. First was that Giles had moved back into his former apartment. The second was the biggie, though.<p>

Standing there with her hands on her slightly swollen stomach, Dawn repeated some of the words he said to her before he left, "Don't cry, Xander. You'll forget about me someday." When he opened his mouth to protest, she added, "You left five years ago. Once I was realized you weren't coming back, I moved on." She handed him a photo taken on her honeymoon six months ago. "Xander, I married Jesse."

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><p>AN: Xander/Dawn/Jesse were the only ones I could think of to fit this song. The ages are almost right (in the song, Joni's 15 and Jimmy's 22 when he leaves).


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